NXT Minus 6: So Many Stomps To The Beanbag

Did WWE NXT Great American Bash push Bradley Jay to watch AEW Fyter Fest next week? Sure seems that way!

It was not Great. It was not a Bash.

6. The Great American Bash started off strong. The women’s fatal 4 way had some hot action & interesting combinations. Even Mia Yim looked good! It worked exactly the way this match should: it got better with each elimination. It wasn’t as dynamic as a typical Takeover curtain jerker, but still a very good Wednesday night match. 4 stars

5. I had high hopes for Oney Lorcan & Timothy Thatcher. They exceeded expectations. This was a lowercase r raw slugfest. My chest is still sore. Timothy Thatcher does absolutely nothing that would fit on RawDown, and that’s a compliment. If you’re not a fan of Lorcan, you’re not a fan of wrestling. If there is a God, we’re only a few short months away from Thatcher and Karrion Kross clubbing the snot out of each other for 20 minutes in a surefire MOTY. I should have stopped watching after this match. 4.5 stars & Match of the Night

4. If Rhea Ripley didn’t join the Robert Stone Brand, then what was the point of this? If I wanted RawDown ass trash, I’d watch Raw & Smackdown. I don’t, so I don’t. Keep shit like this out of NXT. 1 star, and whoever booked this ass trash gets 10 stomps to their beanbag.

3. As a wrestling match, Roderick Strong versus Dexter Lumis was really good. As a STRAP MATCH, it sucked. I spent most of the time wondering when or if they would ever use the strap. Too often, it seemed to get in their way. Unfortunately, this was a fabulous example of a match not even coming close to living up to the stipulation. I’m giving Strong & Lumis 4 stars. I’m giving whoever booked this 15 stomps to their beanbag.

2. Io Shirai and Sasha Banks are 2 of the best female wrestlers in the world. They are in the main event of what is essentially a Takeover. You are head to head with AEW, your biggest competitor. You LET WRESTLERS WRESTLE!!! The match itself was very good. The ending was overbooked RawDown ass trash. 100% unnecessary. 100% pointless. I’ll give Io & Sasha 4 stars. I’m giving whoever booked this shit 30 stomps to their beanbag and they’re fired.

1. When NXT is on my screen, I have high hopes. I thought this could have been the Takeover/Special of the Year. It was the most disappointing NXT special I’ve ever seen. Most of it made no sense. I didn’t even touch on the pointless El Hijo promo & the randomness of Breezango helping Drake Maverick. Would it have made too much sense for KUSHIDA & Jake Atlas to come to his aid? The Great American Bash was not Great. It certainly was not a Bash. It has almost killed my desire to watch night two.